Re: Mystery Critter
>List members,
>
>Thanks for the many inputs on the mystery critter. By
>unanimous consensus it was a mole. Who said the
>members of this list could not agree on anything?
>
>I had friends telling me it was a gopher, but they now
>have deferred not wanting to go up against a bunch of
>pumpkin nuts.... Pumpkin Power in action!!!
>
>By unanimous agreement... a mole:
>http://members.xoom.com/diana_d/critter.htm
>
>The sound you heard on the web page was the cry I use
>when I deliver a lethal blow. My garden enemies
>scatter when they hear it. It is part of the primal
>therapy I use to keep myself sane in the chaotic
>battle ground of the garden.
>
>The battle of the mole
>I won.
>There are many more battles
>to come.
>Before the wars of the pumpkin
>are done.
>
>diana
>
>3rd year grower
>Northern California Zone 10
>best 587 - 1999
>
Who are these friends that said it was a gopher?! Dang... seriously, I
thought you were joking, and just wanted us to go to the page to scare us
with that sound. It scared the crud out of me since I had my volume way up.
I can't stand embedded WAV files, they are one of the top curses of the
internet! Anyway, to answer someone else's whine on the list in this
topic....
pumpkins and chess <pumpkinsandchess@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Can someone please find a way to have Steve taken off this list for
>ever
>and ever?
Why, exactly? I answered her question. (YOUR post above, however was off
topic). Also, I thought she was joking about not knowing it was a mole,
honestly. HOW can one not know what a mole looks like?! Wellllllll
anyway....
MORE HELPFUL INFO! Yes, it's true, I do try to post helpful info that a lot
of people love to overlook, but oh well, I know some do appreciate it.
MOLES....I had a lot of problems with them the last couple of years. The
better your soil is, the more the moles like it. They go after earthworms
and grubs. (Mainly earthworms). They eat their weight in food every day.
They will tunnel all over and all but destroy root systems. A repellent is
sold in stores to repel them but all it is is emulsified castor oil, and you
can make it yourself for almost nothing. Use a couple tablesppons of castor
oil and blend it with some liquid dish soap (Ivory Snow is probably best),
about a half cup or so, then use a few tablespoons of this per gallon of
warm water. Soak the perimeter of your planting beds with this, and apply
before a rain if you can. The castor supposedly repels moles from the area.
It seemed to work for me, but a lot of damage was already done before I
noticed it.
Poke your fingers around and try to fill some soil back into some of the
tunnels, and try to collapse some to take out some of the the root-stopping
air spaces. After you poke around a bit you will probably be surprised how
much tunneling they have done.
But the best advice I can give is the castor repellant.
Hopw this helped!
-Steve
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